Latent profiles of parents’ family-of-origin invalidation experiences: associations with emotion coping and children’s prosocial behavior

Overview

This longitudinal study examines the relationship between parents' family-of-origin invalidation experiences and children's prosocial behavior, with parental emotion coping styles as a mediating mechanism. The investigation involved 837 families in Shanghai, China, with children aged 31-83 months (M = 63.42, SD = 7.99) followed over a six-month period. Latent profile analysis identified three distinct configurations of parents' family-of-origin experiences: effective parents' family-of-origin profile, father-invalidating family profile, and both-invalidating family profile.

Methods and approach

The study employed a six-month longitudinal design with 837 families in Shanghai, China. Children's age range was 31-83 months (M = 63.42 months, SD = 7.99). Latent profile analysis was used to categorize parents' family-of-origin invalidation experiences into distinct profiles. The analysis examined associations between these profiles and children's prosocial behavior, with particular attention to the mediating or moderating roles of parental emotion coping styles, including both spouses' supportive and non-supportive coping approaches.

Key Findings

Three latent profiles of parents' family-of-origin invalidation experiences emerged from the analysis. Compared to the effective parents' family-of-origin profile, both the father-invalidating family profile and the both-invalidating family profile were significantly associated with lower levels of children's prosocial behavior, particularly in contexts where spouses demonstrated higher non-supportive and lower supportive emotion coping styles. The both-invalidating family profile demonstrated further associations with reduced prosocial behavior when parents exhibited lower supportive coping styles, with this pathway showing stronger effects than observed in the father-invalidating family profile.

Implications

These findings delineate distinct developmental pathways through which parents' experiences of invalidation within their families of origin influence children's prosocial competence. The identification of multiple invalidating profiles suggests heterogeneity in how family-of-origin dynamics manifest and their subsequent effects on offspring behavior. The differential strength of associations across profiles indicates that simultaneous invalidation experiences in both parental figures generates more pronounced negative outcomes than invalidation originating from a single parent. The results underscore the centrality of emotion coping repertoires as contextual factors that amplify or attenuate intergenerational transmission mechanisms. Findings support theoretical models positing multimodal pathways of family influence on child development. The research provides evidence for culturally situated understanding of how family-of-origin experiences shape contemporary parenting dynamics and child outcomes within East Asian populations. Understanding these distinct profiles may inform targeted interventions addressing emotion regulation and coping strategies among parents with histories of invalidating family environments.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.